


Leslie Likes and Loves Ben

by Sneechles



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: Episode Related, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Gap Filler
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-31
Updated: 2015-07-31
Packaged: 2018-04-12 07:14:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4470146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sneechles/pseuds/Sneechles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After "Harvest Festival" through "Road Trip", Season 3. This fills in the story of how Leslie learns that she likes and loves Ben. This includes lots of romantic tension and ultimate fulfillment of desires.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Leslie Likes Ben

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leslie is surprised by how important Ben has become to her.

Leslie liked to live her life by a series of codes. It kept her focused, and it was so satisfying to be able to see them all written down in her “Leslie’s Codes for an Awesome, Successful Life” binder. She could easily rely on them to help her make decisions.

 

“What should I eat?”

 

_Breakfast food is always the right choice._

“Should I stay up all night to craft the perfect congratulations gift for Andy’s first day at the shoe shine stand?”

 

_Feelings are best expressed when accompanied by elaborate presents._

“How should I react after that public forum?”

 

_When people yell, they are just caring loudly._

            Lately, Leslie had been acting in direct violation of one of her top 5 codes.

 

_Hoes before bros. Uteruses before duderuses. Ovaries before brovaries._

She couldn’t help it. Ben had become one of her favorite hoes! He was not a beautiful, exotic ray of sunshine like Ann, but he was fun. He understood what it meant to love what you do. He also knew what it felt like to always be driven to do it really well. The best part of their friendship was that he brought out her inner-nerd into the open; she really embraced it. For example, she always loved the idea of a secret, complicated handshake shared between friends, but she had never had a willing partner. It was just too sad when she tried it on her own. Ann was sweet to try once, but her heart was really not in it. Ben, on the other hand, had added 3 new moves to their handshake. The new moves really rounded the whole thing out.

            Leslie found herself spending more and more time in Ben’s office. Workday mornings, she could often be found with Ben at JJ’s Diner working through a mountain of waffles. She also started texting with him. Granted, they mostly talked about work, but, for Leslie, this was a dream scenario. A bro-ho with whom she could dream up ways to improve Pawnee while, instead of listening kindly while increasingly glazing over with boredom, he actually seemed almost as excited as she was to plan. Except, with his help, their plans were more balanced, more pragmatic. They made a good team.

            Beyond the violation of her code, her friendship with Ben was odd because, not that long ago, Ben had been someone she had practically hated. Okay, maybe she had actually hated him a bit. Mean Ben, coming to tear down everything she had built. Though, as perfect, sensible, wise hoot owl Ann had reminded her, she had been Mean Leslie to him, too. At first, she thought she was just passionately defending her hometown from the enemy, but she wavered when she saw the cracks in Mean Ben’s façade – he was actually hurt by some of the things she said. Then, when he bought Freddy Spaghetti to save the concert (that she wasn’t supposed to organize), she saw that Ben could actually care about Pawnee. It wasn’t his fault he had a terrible job.

            As their unlikely friendship grew, she found her email inbox contained more and more emails from Ben. Some were short – quick questions about the Parks Department or Pawnee. Some were longer – an analysis of an article on the growth of small cities in the Midwest and a particularly memorable (if odd) discussion of the impact of Twin Peaks on modern television. She found herself texting him funny things she thought of during the day or pictures of cute squirrels she saw around town. When she came into work, she found herself walking slowly – loitering, really – in case Ben might arrive and they could walk into the building together. She didn’t think much of it – she did the same things with Ann! Right?

            What even Leslie had to admit was markedly different from her friendship with Ann was when she and Ben were physically in the same place. She liked looking at Ann – she was so beautiful and Leslie’s heart filled with love and admiration when she saw Ann’s perfect face. But Leslie never felt compelled to keep looking at her. She knew Ann’s face well and could bring it up in her mind’s eye whenever she needed a bolt of inspiration or something to calm her nerves. On the other hand, while she hadn’t thought much about Ben’s face, she couldn’t stop looking for it when he was nearby. When she walked past his office, she automatically threw a sideways glance to see if he was inside. When he came into her office to speak to one of her colleagues, she looked for his face in profile or in whatever reflective surface her eyes could find. She didn’t do it on purpose. It was like her eyeballs had a mind of their own.

            Once, he caught her. He was in the courtyard chatting amicably with Chris, and she was blatantly staring at him through the window. She was so absorbed in looking at Ben that she had forgotten the email she was typing. She was in the middle of signing her name “Leslie Knopeeeeeeee” when Ben abruptly looked at her. They both jumped, startled by having caught each other in the act. Ben quickly turned back to Chris, laughing manically at whatever Chris had just said. Leslie grabbed the phone too forcefully and smacked herself with the force of her upwards pull.

 

 “OUCH!” she yelped as she dropped the phone with a clatter.

 

Chris heard the commotion and turned to the window.

 

“Leslie Knope!” he said while rewarding her with his signature point.

 

She waved feebly while holding her tender cheek.

 

“Hi, Chris. Hi, Ben.”

 

Ben’s face was still flushed from their prior eye contact but smiling broadly at her. Her stomach did a flip. She lamely pointed at the phone.

 

“I have to make a call!” She said too loudly.

 

She held the phone to her ear and tried to focus on dialing anyone’s number. But all she could do was smile stupidly.


	2. Leslie and Ben Touch Hands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leslie and Ben experience their first physical tension while they work together in her office.

            The next day, Ben and Chris were going to be out all day for a meeting with people from the Indianapolis office. Leslie told herself she was relieved. She got so wound up when Ben was around! Maybe she just wasn’t used to having male friends. Her friendship with Ben, which she valued a lot, was getting weirdly tangled up with his adorable face, slender but taught body, and cute butt. But they were just friends. She sat at her desk preparing to catch up on all the emails she had not yet answered because she had been distracted by Ben.

The office was quiet by early afternoon. Ron was, as usual, locked up in his office, oblivious to the world. April and Tom had left on a fact-finding mission for the “Pawnee Rec Center Game Closet Project.” Donna had called in sick, though Leslie swore she heard the clink of wine glasses in the background as Donna coughed into the phone. The only other person around was Jerry. She sighed at the thought of spending the rest of the day in the office with only Jerry for company. Suddenly, though not unexpectedly, Jerry spilled coffee all over his shirt and pants.

 

“Oh geez,” Jerry muttered.

 

Leslie groaned and walked into the open work area where Jerry stood, dripping with coffee, frantically trying to dab himself with a wadded up tissue.

           

            “Wow, Jerry. You are a mess,” Leslie said without emotion.

                                                    

            “Yeah, geez. This is a new shirt from Gail!”

 

Leslie had an idea.

 

            “Jerry, you are distracting me with your dirty shirt! It is really unprofessional.”

 

Jerry nodded solemnly in agreement.

 

            “Why don’t you go home and change? Don’t come back until you’re cleaned up.”

 

            “Oops, sorry, Leslie!” Jerry says, looking sheepish. “I’ll run home right now!”

 

            “Take a shower, too, while you’re at it.”

 

            “Sure thing, Boss!”

 

Jerry turned to leave but, as he did, he knocked over all of the papers on his desk. He stopped, looked at the papers, and looked at Leslie.

 

            “Just go, Jerry!” She shouted, exasperated, and pointed at the door.

 

She rolled her eyes as he scuttled out. Leslie picked up his dropped papers and returned to her desk. Jerry always annoyed her, but she was in an especially peevish mood. Being at work that day just felt empty. She straightened up, shook herself, and leaned down to knock out her emails.

Ten minutes later she was in an intense work flow when there was a knock on her office door. Without looking she yelled,

 

“There’s no way you took a shower! Go back h-”

 

She stopped talking when she looked up and saw Ben standing in the doorway, holding his laptop and looking alarmed.

 

            “I swear I showered today! Can you… can you smell me?”

 

He tried to subtly sniff his armpit.

 

“No, I thought you were Jerry,” she quickly said as she stood up from her desk. “What are you doing here? I thought you were out with Chris all day.”

 

His presence, filling up her door frame, had thrown her off.

 

“The meeting ended early and they went out for a late lunch. I wasn’t hungry and wanted to be here. I-I mean,” he stuttered and ran his hand through his hair, “I had a lot of work to do.”

 

She stared at him and he stared at her, both frozen and tensely aware of the quiet solitude around them. It seemed like Ron had fallen asleep in his office. Leslie broke the silence by blurting,

 

            “So what are you doing here?”

 

Ben looked flustered again.

 

            “Um, my office is too quiet. I wanted to see, um, if you weren’t too busy, if I could, you know, work here... Sorry, I should go.”

 

            Leslie realized her face hadn’t changed expression from the shock of seeing him. She came back to life.

 

            “Of course!”

 

She beamed at him, and he visibly relaxed.

 

            “Work buddies!” She said excitedly, jumping up and down.

 

He put his laptop down, and they did their secret handshake. Leslie noticed – or at least she thought she noticed – that Ben’s thumb rubbed the side of her hand during step 6. That was definitely not an official move. She busied herself cleaning Tom’s desk to cover her blush.

 

            “You can sit in here. Everyone’s out today and Ron’s in his office, so it’s pretty quiet.”

 

            “Yeah, I noticed. It’s nice – we’ll really get to focus.”

 

            “Yeah,” she agreed, quietly filing away the fact that he had said he had come to her office because it was too quiet in his office.

            They got to work, occasionally reading lines of emails out loud to each other for advice or because something was particularly funny. As time went on, they became silent and Leslie had a new problem. Actually, it was an old one. She kept looking at him. Sometimes she looked at him out of the corner of her eye, sometimes on the way up to looking at the clock, and sometimes while she gazed at the wall behind Tom’s desk. Thoughtfully. She caught him frequently gazing at the pictures of her female political heroines on the counter behind her desk. Also thoughtfully.

            Just when she thought she was not going to get any work done at all with all the thoughtful gazing, she ran into an issue that pulled her attention away from Ben’s face. She had been trying (distractedly) to submit some paperwork on the state’s web portal, but the link she had was broken. She remembered that Ben worked for the state.

 

            “Ben!” she called loudly.

 

He jumped. She smiled inwardly about how easy it was to surprise him.

 

            “Leslie?”

           

            “Can you help me with something?” she asked while staring intently at her screen.

 

He immediately stood up and walked towards her.

 

            “What is it?”

 

“I can’t find the page for submitting responses to grant reviews on the Indiana state web portal.”

 

As Leslie spoke, Ben walked behind her so he could see her screen.

 

            “Sure. I know they’ve moved some stuff around recently. Let me see if I can find it.”

 

He moved slightly to her right and reached down to grab the mouse. Her hand hadn’t moved off the mouse, so he covered it with his own. As he touched her, they both seemed to realize the intimacy of the situation. Ben’s body was draped over Leslie, his face inches from her own, his hand covering hers. Ben stopped moving. Leslie’s mind went fuzzy and her breathing quickly grew short. Ben seemed to barely be breathing. After a pause that seemed like minutes but was likely seconds, Leslie leaned back ever so slightly so that her head was lightly resting on his chest. He was firm, and he smelled like laundry detergent, books, and something else. Cinnamon? He leaned slightly forward so they were pressing closer together, and he turned his face slightly towards her own so she could feel his breath on her face. Neither of them moved nor spoke. Even though they couldn’t see each other’s faces, Leslie felt like they both understood that this moment was delicate – any sudden movements or sounds could burst it.

            POP. Leslie’s phone rang and Ben sprung back like he had been burned. They were silent for a beat while the phone continued to ring. Ben moved quickly away from Leslie and whispered as he gathered his things,

 

            “I will let you get that.”

 

He practically ran out her office.

 

            Leslie picked up the phone, steadied her breathing, and answered.

           

            “Parks Department – Leslie Knope speaking.”

 

As she began to respond to the citizen’s request for fewer kids in the parks on Saturdays, April, Tom, and Jerry, freshly showered, came back into the office. Ron, presumably awakened by the noise, emerged from his office. After Leslie hung up, she joined the group to hear the results of the fact-finding mission. She was happy for the distraction.


	3. What Happens in Indianapolis stays in Indianapolis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elaboration of the events of "The Road Trip."

            Ever since what she and Ann had come to refer to “The Touching Incident,” things had been weird with Ben. Not bad-weird. More like they had both been reduced to flirtatious middle schoolers. Her strong association between seeing Ben and doing internal organ gymnastics meant that she felt slightly queasy whenever she saw City Hall. Incidentally, Leslie had also found out that their relationship could never become more than a friendship or they could be fired. Somehow, this made it all more exciting (if frustrating). Basically, Leslie could barely wait to go to work (though that wasn’t new), and, once she got there, she had to force herself to work in between talking to and thinking about and looking for Ben. That last part was new. She had started to think of her and Ben as a Victorian couple, chastely writing love letters disguised as memos and never touching. Maybe the metaphor wasn’t perfect, but it was kind of romantic.

            Just when she thought she could handle the new status quo, Chris dropped a bombshell on them.

 

“I am sending you two on a trip!” Chris said like he had just presented them with a big present.

 

Leslie tried to pay attention but her mind started racing. A trip? With Ben? Alone? They sat side by side, listening to Chris explain the purpose of the trip (somewhere in the work part of Leslie’s mind, she had already come up with the opening jokes and inspirational quote for the presentation to get the Indiana Little League Baseball Tournament hosted in Pawnee), trying very hard not to look at each other. Leslie needed to talk to Ann.

            The most important thing was that Leslie didn’t want to get fired. The second most important thing was that she was going to be in a car alone with Ben and then giving a presentation alone with Ben followed by more alone time with Ben. Ann, that sexy puma, just wanted Leslie to be happy. Specifically Ann thought it was dumb to avoid what she saw as the inevitable.

 

“This is insane. It’s so obvious you’re dying to be together!” Ann said as she begrudgingly helped Leslie prepare for a virtuous trip with Ben.

 

In the end, Leslie was armed with an unsexy outfit, a mix CD and conversational plan guaranteed to keep their minds off of romance, and a backup plan in case things went awry. Leslie knew that a large part of herself wanted to throw all those things away and let “the inevitable” take its course; her planning was in part to win the war she was fighting with herself.

            Despite her preparedness, the car ride was not easy. She tried boring Ben with conversation and deadening his senses with banjo music. Nothing worked. It didn’t help that Ann, that sneaky, sensual fox, snuck an Al Green song onto the mix. When Ben leaned over to pull an eyelash from her face, she panicked. She saw several things flash before her eyes. She saw herself grabbing Ben’s face and kissing him. She saw the car careening off the road and into a ravine. She saw herself fired and working at JJ’s as a waitress. She pulled back and pushed Ben’s hand away.

 

            “I’m allergic to fingers.”

 

She had won the battle.

            They arrived in Indianapolis and gave the presentation. They won! Ben was amazing – confident and smart, and he had said the sweetest things about Pawnee. He talked about the kindness of the people, their hard work, their passion – how they were very special. She felt her heart swell when she realized how much he had learned about the town and how much it clearly meant to him. So much of who she was was Pawnee; she couldn’t help but include herself in his comments. She was losing ground, and she didn’t have any banjo music left.

            They went to dinner to celebrate and it all fell apart. On their third glass of wine, Ben finally came out and said it.

 

“Pawnee is a really special town. I, uh, love living here.” Ben paused. “And, um, I look forward to the moments in my day when I get to hang out with the town and talk to the town about stuff. And the town has really nice blond hair, too, and has read a shocking number of political biographies for a town, which I like.”

 

            “Oh, god,” Leslie said, feeling overwhelmed by her conflicting emotions.

 

“I’m sorry,” Ben said pleadingly. “I know we can get in trouble, but I can’t take this anymore, and I feel like we have to at least talk about it. I mean… it’s not just me, right?”

 

            “No, it’s not just you,” Leslie said while smiling at Ben.

 

Then Leslie ran away. She called Ann for the backup plan – a lecture from herself on why she shouldn’t pursue Ben. Ann read it to Leslie in a less-than-convincing voice, but, if she was honest, it wouldn’t have worked anyway. She realized that after she heard Ben’s presentation, she had already made up her mind. She wanted Ben, and she was tired of denying herself. She returned to the table ready to throw caution to the wind and embrace happiness with Ben. Her heart dropped when she saw that Chris was there.

            Joyous, helpful Chris, whom Leslie now wanted to do nothing more than to smack, had come to celebrate their victory. Lovely. After they awkwardly finished their dinner, Chris insisted that they spend the night at his condo instead of driving back to Pawnee. Now that Leslie had decided to go for it with Ben, having to be so near him without being able to kiss him and touch him and talk to him openly about how she felt was maddening. Before it had been frustrating but exciting – now she was frustrated and impatient. She had allowed herself to imagine what life with Ben fully in it could be like. Every second without that becoming reality was excruciating. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts to talk to Ben alone without Chris barging in to discuss his small bladder or offer to play boggle, Leslie and Ben went to bed.

            Leslie closed the door to Chris’ guest room and leaned her back heavily against the door. How she was going to get any sleep tonight she had no idea. She climbed in bed and forced herself to think about plans for the Little League Baseball Tournament. It was working. Forty-five minutes later, she had mentally organized a park clean-up in anticipation of the tournament, mapped out a welcome banquet, and designed the “Welcome to Pawnee” folders and gift bags they would distribute to the attendees. Then she realized she had to pee. All that small bladder talk and the fact that she had gone to the guest room without stopping at the bathroom first hadn’t helped.

            She listened intently and surmised that everyone was asleep. She also knew she would have to walk past Ben on the couch to get to the bathroom. She took off her jacket so she was only in her tank top and sweat pants. It was silly, but she wanted to look nice in case Ben saw her on her way… to pee. She quietly opened the door and tiptoed past Chris’ closed door. She saw that Ben was asleep on his back, his right leg kicked out from under the blanket. His hair pointed in every direction, and she resisted the urge to run her fingers through it. Her need to pee was urgent enough that she quickly walked past him to get to the bathroom before she could think about it too much.

            When she came out of the bathroom, feeling calmer, she stood at the head of the couch, looking down at Ben. She put her hand on the arm of the couch, her fingers dangling down near his head, not quite touching him but close enough that she could feel the warmth from his temples. She wasn’t sure what her next move was going to be, but, at that moment, she just wanted to look at him without any pressure or fear. Suddenly, Ben’s eyes opened and looked into hers. She gasped, and he smiled. She felt her heart beat rapidly, and she slowly smiled back at him. She moved her fingers slightly and gently grabbed a lock of hair between her index and middle finger, gently rubbing it between her fingers. He slowly moved his arm up as though to grab her hand when they heard Chris’ door open. Ben pulled his arm back down and tightly shut his eyes. Leslie walked quickly to the guest room – nodding to acknowledge Chris as he walked towards the bathroom – and shut the door.


	4. Leslie and Ben Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elaboration on the events in City Hall at the end of "The Road Trip".

            When they got back from Indianapolis, Leslie called Ann for an emergency strategy session. She filled Ann in on everything that happened – from the car ride to the dinner to what happened at Chris’ house. They then spent a long time arguing about what she should do next. In the cold light of day, Leslie wasn’t so sure anymore. Her feelings for Ben had led her to almost break Chris’ rules _in Chris’ house_. She chalked it up to temporary insanity, and she convinced herself (if not Ann) that she could return to a chaste, Victorian relationship with Ben. Ann – loyal guide dog that she was – told Leslie that she supported whatever decision Leslie made, even if she thought the situation with Ben was unsustainable and would have to end up with them naked or with Ben leaving Pawnee. Leslie didn’t want to think about that.

            At the end of the day, Leslie went to drop off some receipts at Chris’ office. It was late and almost everyone in City Hall had gone home for the day. Ben met her at the door. She had braced herself for this possibility and tried to keep her voice as steady as possible.

 

            “Chris just wanted me to drop off these receipts,” Leslie said as casually as she could.

           

            “Oh, well, he’s not here. He took off.”

 

            “Okay,” Leslie said, handing the receipts to Ben.

 

Ben grabbed the receipts from her and pulled her face up to his as he kissed her. He held her hair in one hand and her face in the other. For all Ben’s nervousness, his kiss was confident and communicated exactly what he wanted. Leslie pulled back for a split second, made a decision, and kissed him again.

 

            “Uh-oh,” Leslie said after they broke apart.

 

            “Uh-oh?” Ben said, looking imploringly into her eyes.

 

            “I mean there’s no turning back now. All my dreams… all my fears…”

 

“All your dreams?” He asked teasingly as he pulled her closer to him. “Have you been dreaming about me, Ms. Knope?”

 

“No… I mean, not all the time. Sometimes it’s not quite you – it’s like you mixed with Joe Biden…” Leslie babbled nervously.

 

Ben held her close with one arm around her lower back so her hips were pressed against him. He rubbed his thumb from her temple to her chin. He kept kissing parts of her face, like now that they’d kissed once he couldn’t stop. Ben leaned in close to her ear and whispered, in between kissing down her neck,

 

“Well, I’ve been dreaming about you, Leslie. These last few months have been amazing… and horrible. I can’t get you out of my mind. I look for you everywhere – when I turn corners at work, when I drive past JJ’s… And now you’re here.”

 

He pulled back to look at her, holding her shoulders.

 

            “And it’s a dream come true.”

 

He looked at her with such affection she could barely stand it. She blushed and looked away. She then looked back at him and smiled wickedly.

 

            “So what happened in these dreams? Hm?”

 

Ben pulled her close again and leaned into her so she couldn’t see his face but she could feel his breath on her neck and throat.

 

            “Well, sometimes we would work in your office and hold hands.”

 

Leslie giggled,

 

            “That’s so sweet.”

 

Ben started rubbing his fingers on her chest, reaching just under the edges of her blouse.

 

            “And you remember that time when I worked in your office the day everyone was gone?”

 

Leslie felt light-headed.

 

            “Yeah.”

 

            “In one dream, the phone never rang. And I didn’t run out of there like a coward.”

 

            “What happened next?” Leslie said breathlessly.

 

Ben had started kissing her shoulders, moving her blazer off to give him better access.

 

            “I stayed, and I showed you how much I wanted to be close to you.”

 

With those words, Ben started moving behind Leslie so he was pressed up against her back like he had been that day, her right hand held in his right hand across her chest, his left arm holding her around her stomach. He kissed the nape of her neck, down her left shoulder, and in the sensitive area under her jaw. She felt his erection grow hard against her, and she felt herself melt somewhere deep in her core as the heat built between her legs.

            Her eyes flew open at her sudden arousal and she remembered where they were. In the doorway of Chris’ office, in City Hall. Where they could be discovered any minute.

 

            “Ben. Wait.” She pulled away from him and turned around.

 

Ben looked worried.

 

            “I-I’m sorry, was that too much?

 

Leslie smiled gently.

 

            “No. It wasn’t enough. But I’m not going to do this in Chris’ office.”

 

Ben let out his breath and laughed.

 

            “That’s fair.”

 

            “Do you want to go somewhere else?” Leslie asked pointedly.

 

Ben inhaled deeply and exhaled shakily.

 

            “Yes. God, yes.”

 

Leslie picked up her phone and started quickly pressing buttons.

 

            “I’ve texted you my address. Meet me there in 20 minutes.”

 

Ben’s phone buzzed.

 

            “Okay. I’ll clean up my stuff here, and I’ll see you soon.”

 

Leslie smiled like a fool, looked around to make sure no one was there, and pulled his face down to kiss him, hard and deep. She pulled away again, shaking her head.

 

            “Nope, nope, let’s not start that again. Okay, I’ll see you at my house.”

 

            Leslie turned on her heel and walked away, forcing herself not to look back at Ben. She knew if she turned around, she might never make it home. And she needed to beat Ben there; her house was a mess.


	5. Leslie Loves Ben

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leslie and Ben smut following "The Road Trip".

            On the drive home, Leslie could barely sit still. Now that she had been so close to him, not having Ben near her, kissing her, touching her… it felt like part of her was missing. She had never felt such urgency to be physically intimate with someone. Sex had always been fine for her. She saw it as an important part of a relationship but no better or more important than sharing a plate of waffles or a night spent power-watching episodes of Planet Earth. Honestly, she felt a good plate of waffles was usually more enjoyable than sex. But at that moment, she would have traded months of waffles to be with Ben. She ached for him. It was scary and thrilling. 

            She pulled into her driveway, parked, and ran to her front door. When she walked in, she made some quick decisions. Clean off the couch? Yes. The dining room table? No, there was no time. She made a clear path to her bedroom and pushed her work binders off the bed onto the floor. That would have to do. She thought about changing into something more alluring than her work blouse and pants. She tried digging through her closet while simultaneously pulling off her shoes, pants, and shirt. As she was looking through the closet with one arm and pulling her shirt over her head with the other, the doorbell rang.

 

            “I’m coming! Hold on… I’m… stuck!”

 

Leslie had somehow gotten her elbow stuck in the shirt with her pants still around her ankles. She struggled desperately to pull herself out and ended up falling over in front of her closet.

            At that moment, Ben walked through her bedroom door.

 

            “I, um, let myself in.”

 

He saw her on the floor, half-undressed, one arm in her shirt and one arm out of it.

 

            “Good lord. Are you okay?”

 

He rushed over and knelt down to help extract her from her clothes. After a couple of seconds of struggling, they were able to pull her shirt over her head and her pants from her ankles. They looked at each other and started laughing.

 

            “I was trying to get into something sexy. Did it work?” Leslie asked.

 

Ben looked at her seriously and cupped her face with his hands.

 

            “Yes,” he said, pulling her face up to kiss him.

 

            All of the need she felt in the car came rushing back in that moment, and she got up on her knees to face him. As they kissed ravenously, devouring each other, tasting each other, Leslie fumbled with Ben’s buttons, tugging his shirt off of him. When she had pulled off his shirt, she ran her hands across his chest, down his sides, landing her hands on his belt.

 

            “God, you’re beautiful,” she said.

 

            “That’s my line,” he muttered as he wrapped his arms around her back.

 

With one quick motion, he unhooked her bra. He pulled back to look at her. Her arms were still through the straps of her bra, the plain beige cups still covering her breasts. He slowed his breathing and carefully pushed down one strap and then the other, never taking his eyes off of her. He pulled her bra down and from her.

 

            “Leslie,” he breathed.

 

He moved his mouth to her chest, kissing her collarbones and down her sternum. She felt like she was being blessed. His hands moved to cup her breasts, and she exhaled and closed her eyes. His hands were soft and gentle, touching her delicately and worshipfully where she had only ever been touched roughly and carelessly. He flicked her left nipple with his thumb, and she moaned. With her sound, Ben moved his body against hers and she felt him, hard and throbbing against her leg. She involuntarily thrust her hips towards him, and he took her right nipple in his mouth, tugging softly with his teeth.

Without taking his mouth off of her, he picked her up and carried her to the bed. He laid her down gently kissing down her chest and her stomach. As his hands moved down her body and landed on her thighs, her hips lurched and she lost all focus. Ben pulled away from her as he peeled her panties down her legs and over her feet. She automatically shut her legs, feeling slightly embarrassed at being so exposed, wet and puffy with arousal. But as she tried to get up on her elbows and bring Ben to kiss her again, he pulled back to rub his hands down her thighs and gently pull them apart. He knelt down in front of her and paused, taking her in.

 

“You are lovely,” he said, stroking her curls and the insides of her thighs.

 

With that, Leslie leaned her head back. She thought she could trust her friend, her Ben, not to judge her. She had never been so unguarded during sex; it was liberating.

            Ben gently flicked her clit with his tongue. Leslie dug her fingers into the bed and arched her back.

 

            “More. Please,” Leslie panted.

 

Ben obliged, burying his face in her sex. He explored her with his tongue, darting inside of her, sucking gently on her clit, responding to her sounds and movements. As she started to grind against his face, his tongue moved purposefully and quickly against her clit while he slowly pushed a finger inside of her. Leslie groaned and pushed herself down against his finger and tongue. As her rhythm grew faster, Ben pushed another finger inside of her, speeding up his strokes.

 

            “I’m close,” Leslie gasped, “Don’t stop.”

 

Ben bent his fingers inside her slightly, rubbing the front of her wall in a way that made her feel faint. He moved his face from between her legs and pulled himself up to kiss her while he pushed his fingers inside of her. She tasted herself on his lips.

 

            “I want to watch you come,” Ben breathed into her ear huskily.

 

Ben’s words sent Leslie over the edge. She started bucking against his hand, yelling his name as she crested. When she finished, Ben pulled his hand from her and laid next to her on the bed, his legs dangling over the front. She breathed heavily and tried to reorient herself. She turned her face to Ben.

 

            “That was amazing. Why have we never done that before?”

 

They both laughed.

            Leslie tried to steady her breathing. She looked at Ben and took a second to take him in. He was so sweet, so sexy, and so hers. Then she remembered that he still had his pants on.

 

            “Your turn!” She said, pushing him on his back and straddling his stomach.

 

Ben’s look of surprise turned dark and lustful as Leslie unbuckled his pants behind her back. As her arms were occupied with his belt, Ben took the opportunity to hold her breast with one hand and rub her clit with the other. Leslie moaned.

 

            “Ben, I’m never going to get your pants off if you keep doing that.”

 

“You’re Leslie Knope. You can do anything,” Ben said mischievously as he pushed a finger inside of her.

 

Leslie took the challenge and tried to concentrate on pulling off his belt while Ben fingered her. It would have been easier if she had moved, but the idea of moving away from Ben seemed inconceivable. Besides, her brain was not fully functional at that point and who could blame her.

            She finally was able to loosen his belt and unzip his fly. She scooted herself backwards as she shimmed his pants off of him. When she reached his cock, she paused to rub herself on him, eliciting a groan from Ben. His cock pushed out of the slit of his boxers, and Leslie held herself over him so that the tip barely touched her lips. Ben pushed his hips up, but Leslie pulled herself up and back.

 

            “Not yet,” she said while cupping him firmly with her hand.

 

Ben groaned again.

 

            She pulled his pants and boxers down. His cock sprang up, unfettered, and she took a moment to admire him. Like Ben, his cock was lean and hard. It stuck straight up from his body, pulsing as she slowly grazed her fingers over his thighs.

 

“What do you want?” Leslie asked as she delicately touched the tip with her fingers.

 

Ben looked in her eyes, his own dark and dreamy.

 

            “I want to be inside of you. I want to be connected to you.”

 

Leslie responded headily, “Mmm… I want that, too.”

 

They were both quiet for a second, absorbing the intensity of the situation.

 

            “Oh, um,” Ben said awkwardly. “Do you have, um...”

 

            “A condom? Yeah, bedside drawer.”

 

Ben groped blindly in the drawer, finally coming back with a foil packet. Leslie took it from him, ripped it open, and rolled the condom down over his penis. As soon as it was on, Ben grabbed her hips and pulled her towards him.

 

            “Slowly. I want to watch,” Ben said.

 

Leslie picked her hips up above him and slowly lowered herself onto him. The head of his penis stretched her opening and she savored the deliciousness of feeling him slowly fill her up. When she had engulfed him, she looked at him and his face was so sweet, so adoring, she took his hand to her heart and sighed.

 

            “I didn’t know it could be like this. You are wonderful.”

 

            “No, Leslie. It’s not me. It’s us.”

 

            With that, Ben started to move his hips slowly. Leslie responded in kind and quickened her pace. This was way better than waffles. She leaned forward to anchor herself around his neck and thrust her hips against him, pulling out and pushing back onto him hard. He grabbed her butt and, with one smooth motion, picked her up and lay her on her back. He pulled her legs up on his shoulders and rolled her nipples with his fingers. He alternately pushed into her slowly and softly and then pounded into her hard. Leslie’s hand moved to her clit, rubbing fast and hard as Ben filled her.

 

            “Fuck,” Ben moaned.

 

As her hand moved more quickly, his rhythm grew faster and choppier. He let go of her nipples and wrapped his arms around her neck. He pulled his face close to her ear and breathed into her.

 

            “I’m going to cum,” Ben said into her ear.

 

She felt him release inside of her and she came for a second time that night. As they orgasmed together, they arched against each other, their cries echoing in Leslie’s bedroom. Ben collapsed on top of Leslie and rolled to the side of her. Leslie moved to snuggle her head on his chest. Ben wrapped his arms around her.

            They woke up a few hours later, naked and wrapped in each other’s arms. Leslie looked up at Ben and smiled.

 

            “It wasn’t a dream. You’re still here.”

 

Ben kissed her forehead, pushing aside her damp hair.

 

            “I’m still here. And now that I’m here, you’re not going to get rid of me.”

 

            “Good,” Leslie said, snuggling closer to him.


End file.
